that i am not a perfect man and i wouldn't be a perfect president. that's probably a promise that governor romney thinks i've kept. but i also promised that i would fight every single day on behalf of the american people, and the middle class and all of those who striving to get in the middle class. i have kept that promise. if you will vote for me, then i promise i will fight just as hard in a second term. >> jim: governor romney. >> thank you, jim. mr. president. thank you for tuning in this evening. thanksgiving an important election. i am concerned about america. i am concerned about the direction america has been taking over the last four years. i -- i know this is bigger than election about the two of us, as individuals. it's bigger than our respective parties. this lrkz is about the course of america. what kind of america dowrpt to have for yourself and for your children? there are two very different paths that we began speakerring

about. we will have two more presidential debates and a vice-presidential debate. and we will talk about the two paths. and they lead in very different directions. it is not just the words. you can look at the record. there is no question in my mind, if the president were to be re-elected, you will continue to see a middle-class squeeze with incomes going down and prices going up. you will see chronic unemployment. we have 43 straight months of unemployment above 8%. if i am president, i will help create 12 million new jobs in this country, with rising incomes. the president's re-elected, obamacare will be fully installed. in my view, that's going to mean a different way of life for people who counted on the insurances plan they had in the past. many will lose it. premiums will go up $2500 per family. if i am elected, we won't have obamacare. we will put in place the principles i have in my own state and get states to get people insured and focus on getting the cost of health care

down. if the president were to be re-elected, you will see a $716 billion cut to medicare. you will have four million people who will lose medicare advantage, hospitals and providers that will no longer accept medicare patients. i will restore that $716 billion to medicare. finally, military. the president's re-elected, you will see dramatic cuts to the military. the secretary of defense says these would be devastating. i will not cut our commitment to our military. i will keep america strong and get america's middle class working again. thank you, jim. >> jim: thank you, governor. thank you, mr. president. the next debate will be the vice-presidential event on thursday, october 11 at center o'clock in danville, kentucky. for now, from the university of denver, i'm jim lehrer. thank you and gbts. ooh thank you and good night. [cheers and applause] did

>> 90 minutes later. it was a robust debate, in the team jerseys, governor rom flee in the reds tie, president obama in the blue. romney landing a number of job jabs on everything from debt and jobs and the economy to health

care, to his green energy program, saying, americans, republican and democrat need leadership and he's prepared to provide it. the president, keeping his cool, said to be a challenge for him tonight, saying that leadership requires more than lofty goals trequires specifics and he didn't hear them from the governor. it was interesting to see mitt romney looking mostly over at president obama when he was making his point and president obama choosing to look at jim lehrer or looking down. what message do the viewers pick up on that? president obama looking directly into the camera on the subject of obamacare, wanting to communicate directly to the viewers at home, past the moderator. there was mostly respectful sparring in a robust debate. the moderator, jim lehrers was not nrsly in control, but not ineffective. this is the first time we have seen the candidates go back and

forth. instead of hearing from a moderator, we got to hear from them. >> that's right. he watched a lot of the time, as the candidates went back and forth. you know, we were wondering what governor romney would be like, coming in, whether he would go on the offensive. that really was answered in the first few minutes. he was energetic and aggressive. he knew his brief. it seemed like he was a defender of the free markets and his business experience. in the first 30 to 40 minutes, seemed to make significant points. president obama in that same time, didn't seem as energetic and seemed defensive at points. but he came back to a common theme that he wanted governor romney to provide specifics for a number of the romney/ryan plans, which he hit on a number of times. he felt most comfortable, it seemed, defending obamacare, looking right into the camera. we didn't seem to have that moment that, sometimes debates

have. but there was an exchange about the deficit and debt, talking about the simpson-bowles plan, that had an interesting back and forth. take a listen. e >> in one year, you provided $90 billion in breaks to the green energy world. now, i like green energy as well, but that's about 50 years worth of what oil & gas receives, exon and mobile this. $2.8 billion goes largely to small company, drilling operators and so forth. but if we get that tax rate down to 25%, that $2 important 8 billion is on the table. that's probably not going to survive. but don't forget, you put $ninety billion, like 50 years worth of breaks into soular and wind, to solyndra, fisker, i have a friend who said, you don't just pick the winners and losers, you pick the losers.

>> he was talking about the energy plan. president obama picking losers. we will get the simpson-bowles one. let's bring in the panel for analysis. brit hume and joe trippi. okay, brit. your thoughts? >> well, you are right, governor romney came out. he was aggressive. when do you that, you are always in danger of seeming rude or... pugneighbors. i don't think he d. -- bug -- pugnacious. high seemed to display extraordinary knowledgeability. i don't think president obama had a bad night in the sense that he was way off his game. he was a lot like the president obama we are used to hearing. i don't think he seemed rusty. but i don't think he had the spark or the energy or the precision tonight that governor romney had. governor rom he in a good night. he didn't have a big moment that becomes a sound bite and affects how people look back on the

debate. but this was a strong performance by governor romney. he needed one. i think he got it. >> joe? >> i think romney did himself a lot of good tonight. he was there on the issues. he knew his stuff. he didn't back down to the president or the moderator. and he didn't -- he didn't cross the line because you can do that and i think that would have backfired on him. i watched obama debate a lot in primaries when i was with edwards and clinton and john ed wards. this is the guy who showed up. he's a good debeirut. but he doesn't enjoy. it you look at this. romney looked like -- i am here, this is great, i am having fun. he really did. and obama looked sort of sour and like it was another headache to have to be there. that won't help. the question here, rom flow's supporters needed to be reinvigorated.

he definitely got that out of tonight. what did happen with the undecided? did women move? you know, is that enthusiasm going to spread out and show up in the differential in terms of who will vote? >> was there body language you noticed? >> to the extent, i thought they both behaved with considerable dignity and respect. so i don't think anybody lost on body language. but the president was continually looking down and he was sometimes having an expression on his face that may have seemed like a smirk. that never helps you. they really never do. on balance, i thought that governor romney's body language was good. the expression on his face, an expression, are familiar with, it's kind of a half smile, not a smirk. he was looking at the president, while he spoke, was probably better than having him looking down as president obama did. on body language, if that's what that is, those are my

observations. >> joe, one of the messages the president seemed to want to get across was that in his view, governor romney wasn't offering specifics and they needed to hear sprvegs. in part, governor romney answered, saying, my experience as governor, you don't announce of a piece of legislation and say it's my way or the highway, that's not how you get things done. but in general, he was saying that he is offering specifics, but can't get too specific because you won't have a meaningful bipartisan debate that results in real legislation. your thoughts on how that exchange went between the two of them? >> well, i think the president's probably trying to get to the fact that we are finding that a lot of people are saying in the polls that they don't feel they know the specifics about the romney plan to vote for him. he is not winning that group. they don't know his specifics and they don't vote for him. i think the president -- his team understood that. they were trying to keep promoting that. i am not sure romney addressed

it enough. i think he has to do that in the last 30 days here. i think it is more he does that, the better growth potential he has. but that's what the obama campaign was trying to achieve. >> on that point, a couple of times, you heard romney say, particularly with regard to $5 trillion tax cut or whatever, he said, he said, i am not proposing that. he also talked about the things he wasn't going to do. he didn't really say why it was that his policies or plans would not do that. he said, look, i am telling you this, have you to take my word for it. he said it with a certain force and conviction. it may have been enough for some people. it's not at all clear to me that it was enough for everybody. >> i want to give everybody a point of view. this is the spin room. these signs are people that are trying to spin reporters, to try to get reporters to come over to them and tell them what they

thought. we can seeac ax getting ready for an interview next to us. with that, panel thanks and lite go to "on the record with greta van susteren." greta? >> greta: thank you. we are here with pat buchanan, a senior adviser of president nixon, ford and reagan and a former presidential candidate himself. pat, what do you think? >> i don't think governor romney could have done a better job. it was outstanding. i have never seen him eye mean, he was tremendously aggressive, but friendly. and the in the -- the president was on the defensive. but in terms of his knowledge on the issues and on every single question, i think it was the best performance of any debate i have seen him do. if i had to mark this as a 15-round fight, i think that governor romney won 13 of 15 rounds, i expect republicans to like his performance tonight. so i went on twitter to see how

the biggest cheerleaders of twitter. bill maher, gave $1 million, tweeted this. he said, i can't believe i am saying this, but obama looks like he does need a teleprompter. he tweets, obama made a lot of great points, but most of them were for romney. he is getting hammered by his own teammates. >> he did not seem to be comfortable there. he seemed flustered at times. he was on the defensive almost the entire time. the governor kept coming back at him with a smile on his faille face in a friendly manner. i don't think the president made any grave mistake tonight. but if he were your champion, have you to be disappointed because governor romney really needed to do something here to invigorate his troops and i think he did it. as i say, i don't know how high could have done a better job. these are sort of onekish subjects. he has the material down cold.

i will say this, you understood why he was a very effective executive when he walked into a room and made decisions. the man knows his onions on all of these issues. maybe after 2 years of being in there, he was really at the to which -- at the to whichr top of his game. they have a right to be proud. i think they will get a boost in energy and fire for their troops. >> greta: they do get a bounce, how do you maintain your bounce? another tweet, mike murphy, republican strategist, he said, it's funny, tonight, romney is much better than his campaign. obama's far worse. >> i think that's exactly right. the romney we have all seen -- even those of us who support him, will agree he's made some steps andma made inelegant statements and things that have contributed to an impression that he had to vanquish tonight. that's one thing he did, he had to vanquish the idea that he is out of touch. a be november issue, on the tax cuts and medicare and these

things, talking about... again, it's hard to see how he could have done a bettered job. there was no defining moment there such as there guagain that will be repeated, i believe. but other than that, that was one of the finest deby the bait performances i have ever seen nterms of substance. >> greta: join us again tonight at midnight with a special, complete hour of "on the record." karl scproaf reince priebus will be here and much more reaction. stay tuned, bret and geeingyn will be right back in just a moment.

dad vo: ok, time for bed, kiddo. lights out. ♪ (sirens) (train horn)

♪ vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. >> governor, what about simpson-bowles, do you support it? >> the president should have grabbed that -- >> flow, i mean, do you support simpson-bowles? >> i have my own plan. but in my view, the president should have grabbed. it if you want adjustment, take it, make adjustments, to it --

[overlapping dialogue] >> you have been president four years. you said you would cut the deficit in half, it's four years later. we have trillion-dollar deficits. the cbo says we will have a trillion-dollar deficit the next four years. have you said before you would cut the deficit in half. i love this idea of $4 trillion in cuts, ways to reduce or get closer to a balanced budget, but we show trillion life dollar deficits every year. that doesn't get the job done. >> that was the sound bite, talking about what the president has done with the debt. you saw the exchange between the two men on that. welcome back to the university of denver. behind me in the hall, on the debate floor, the people are milling about. now the action is over with bret in spin alley. but first, we want to go to chris wallace, who is in wash wawash with his own take on how the night went. chris? >> reporter: hey. you know, i have been thinking

and trying to put it in historical context, what tonight reminded me of more than any other debate, the first kerry/bush debate, where john kerry took the battle to george bush. and bush, the president, seemed very uneasy, didn't seem comfortable and like he wanted to be challenged. that's what i felt tonight. the challenger, mitt romney, seemed more presidential than the president. more in command of his facts, his arguems and his principles. i thought the answer on the government, re-- referring back to the constitution, veryesquive. obama seemed nervous, ill at ease and off his game and because of the fact that romney was always looking at obama when obama was talking to him, much better than when obama was talking and looking down, like he was being lectured. i think we have to talk about the debate and the debate rules and the moderator. you know, the idea -- they were very excited, the debate

commissioned about the 15-minute pods to allow more exchange. but it allowed more, longer speeches and talking points. jim lehrer, a man for whom i have tremendous esteem, seemed to lose control of the debate, occasionally. he seemed to throw something out there to keep the conversation going, sometimes it seemed to be helping obama, like saying, you are for a balanced approach of tax cuts and spending -- tax increases and spending cuts, and that really seemed to lose some control. as far as the issues were concerned, there were a couple of -- i can't say whoppers, but there were a couple of points. one was medicare. and on that issue, romney was right. when he said that $716 billion in cuts was going to affect benefits, the fact is, it would affect benefits, the actuary says, let me see if i can find tin practice, providers can't

sustain the negative margins and legislative changes would have to withdraw from providing services to medicare beneficiaries. so romney was right. but on medicaid, where romney said it wasn't wouldn't be a cut twould be inflation plus 1% and obama said it would be a 30% cut. there was an independent study by bloomberg. they say that romney's medicaid proposal, $1.26 trillion loss in medicaid over 10 years under the romney plan. so there were facts and some loose arguing of the facts am but an interesting debate. i am not sure a game changer, but a good night for romney, a little less so for the president. >> thank you. bret, at the beginning of the show, you were jealous of me because i was with the action and now you are with the action. >> yes. chris wallace has good analysis and he can pick good times. coming up, charles krauthammer on who came out on top.

he joins us after this break. you see us, at the start of the day. on the company phone list that's a few names longer. you see us bank on busier highways. on once empty fields. everyday you see all the ways all of us at us bank are helping grow our economy. lending more so companies and communities can expand, grow stronger and get back to work. everyday you see all of us serving you,

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look. i got five boys. i'm used to people saying something that is not always true but keep repeating it and hoping i'll believe it but that is not the case. i will not reduce the taxes paid by high income americans. number three, i will not under any tirk stances raise taxes on middle income families. >> governor romney the first 30 minutes of the debate spent on taxes. and this issue take up many times throughout the 90 minutes. welcome back to denver in the spin room. let's go now to charles

krauthammer with his thoughts on the debate. >> i thought romney won by two touchdowns. you know? when a challenger steps up on the stage that gives stature, when performing the way romney did, i think changes things. it changes momentum. romney campaign is at a terrible month. to the extent people are saying who is this guy? all of a sudden thrk romney shows up. and he's knowledgeable, confident and he's got nerve. he never backed down on any of the obama attacks. any time obama hurled a particular at him, he came back with a three-point answer. so i think he didn't just hold his own, but showed himself to be equal to the president and is taking one by far the majority of the rounds. think for him what that does is changes the narrative of the campaign that is so it's

going nowhere, making mistake after mistake to one which people stop and say is that the guy? this is the first time they're seeing him unfiltered. that is not the guy we thought we read about and heard about. he's different from that. with obama, i thought he had a weak night. it looked as if he's sitting on a leaf. i can guarantee you had he been behind in the post he would have had it at 47%. the video damaged romney didn't come up. that is somebody thinks all he has to do is get up there, play out the 90 minutes, hold the ball, and win. but he lost. again, it's not going to change the election. but i think it does stop the romney slide. it is not just that energizes the base. people who heard millions of dollars worth of ads about romney he's gordon degecko of our times there is this guy

saying he has ideas and perhaps some are wrong. but he's got concern for the country and he knows his stuff. so i think in hopes to wipe away that advantage that obama had from this huge amount of advertising you've seen and i think we might begin to see a slight narrative. perhaps a point or two but that is all you need with a month to go. >> and charles, quickly. the first answer by president obama is opening statement. he mentioned auto bailout. we didn't hear about the 47% tape for any of that, once throughout the 90 minutes. we thought going into the debate perhaps he would attack on that tape. he didn't. >> he didn't attack on that. i think his thinking is that the worst thing you can do is

appear aggressive and beating up on the challenger and losing the image of the cool and composed guy. so in order to not to do that he was excessively different yil and in some sense, weak. that is what you do when you think you're ahead. i suspect in the second round he's going to be a lot different. >> charles, thank you. as always. >> pleasure. >> and fox news teamed up with folks at twitter to find out what you had to say. during the debate twitter keeping tabs on when this triggered a discussion online. this became most tweeted political event of all time. some of the hottest topics tonight total volume of treats tweets is up to more than four million of of those, four topics jumped out. first, economy. 3%. and second, health care, 0%. third, taxes 18 and fourth,